Newsletter

Our view: Protecting us from us

We sometimes wonder about using laws and punishment as a primary means of discouraging motorists from engaging in risky driving behaviors.

We’re not saying there shouldn’t be laws that make it illegal, for example, to text while driving. What we are saying is that it’s maybe just a little bit remarkable that human beings very often have to be saved from themselves.

An article by Stuart Korfhage that appeared earlier this week in The Record detailed just how expensive it can get if you are charged with driving under the influence (DUI) in Florida. And it gets much worse if you are convicted. Even if you’re able to plea the charge down to reckless driving, the financial implications can be steep.

The National Transportation Safety Board is now recommending the standard of a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent be lowered to 0.05 percent for legal presumption of intoxication. If the change is made, persons accustomed to having a couple of glasses of wine with dinner might want to rethink that process if they plan on getting behind the wheel at meal’s end.

There can be enlightened debate over the propriety of regulating cell phone use, lowering legal blood alcohol levels and limiting numerous other activities and/or states-of-mind while driving motor vehicles.

Does tapping the steering wheel while rocking out to Aerosmith constitute enough of a hazard to be banned? How about chomping down on the juicy burger you just picked up at the drive-thru window at your favorite fast food joint; should we prohibit that sort of risky behavior? All manner of things could distract you, such as a glob of ketchup squirting into your lap or discovering they forgot to “hold the tomatoes” you happen to be allergic to.

We’ve got laws on the books for specific infractions, such as DUI, while many other risky behaviors are covered by prohibitions against careless or reckless driving. When these behaviors become “mainstream,” they sometimes become part of the law. It wasn’t too long ago when police were required to stop motorists for another infraction before they ticketed them for not wearing seat belts. And before that, there once was no legal requirement to buckle-up.

The news media report on traffic accidents, including those with fatalities, on a daily basis. You would have to be from Mars not to know that careless, reckless, impaired (you name it) driving can have serious health and financial consequences. And yet we need laws to help us to not engage in it.

While our lawmakers are debating, passing or refining laws to make the operation of motor vehicles safer for both drivers and those around them, we urge the public to go one-up on them.

Drive as if your life and the lives of others depended on your ability to reach your destination without incident or near-incident. Because, of course, they do.